Mary Greeley Receives 2019 Baldrige National Quality Award

Announced by U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Mary Greeley is first Iowa organization to receive prestigious national honor.

Mary Greeley Receives 2019 Baldrige National Quality Award LogoAMES, Iowa – Mary Greeley Medical Center was today named a 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Since 1987, the Baldrige Award has been the highest recognition for performance excellence in the nation. It is the nation’s only presidential award for performance excellence, recognizing U.S. organizations and businesses that have shown an “unceasing drive for innovative solutions to complex challenges, visionary leadership and operational excellence.”

Mary Greeley is the first Iowa organization to achieve this prestigious recognition. In 2018, the medical center became the first Iowa organization to receive a Baldrige site visit and receive best practice recognition in customer service.

“We told the Baldrige organization our story, which is all about continually reviewing and improving the quality of Mary Greeley as an outstanding place to receive care, work and practice medicine. Our story impressed them enough that they wanted to come here to learn more, to see it for themselves,” said Brian Dieter, President and CEO of Mary Greeley. “What the Baldrige judges discovered during their visit has resulted in one of the highest levels of quality recognition we could achieve. We are extremely proud of this because we know what it means for our patients.”

Baldrige judges evaluate organizations in seven areas: leadership; strategy; customers; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce; operations; and results. Among the highlights of the Baldrige judges’ evaluation of Mary Greeley are:

  • Consistently strong ratings in a variety of areas related to patient safety and health care quality from major organizations, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
  • High percentage of patients and employees who would recommend Mary Greeley to others.
  • Strong, stable financial performance, and strength of Mary Greeley’s market share in central Iowa.
  • Workforce commitment to the medical center’s “Doing What’s Right” tagline, as demonstrated through the medical center’s patient-centered scheduling program, Patient and Family Advisory Council, and administrative rounding with staff.
  • A workplace culture that emphasizes open communication, high performance, and patient safety.
  • Inclusion of community members in strategic planning process and process improvement projects.

“Everyone at Mary Greeley played an important part in this achievement,” said Dieter. “Every employee contributes to the experience patients and families have when they walk through our doors, whether they are at the bedside caring for patients or supporting those who do.”

The Baldrige award has gone to 121 organizations since 1986, including 25 health care organizations.

Mary Greeley, a 220-bed hospital serving a multi-county region of central Iowa, has been on the Baldrige journey for nearly 10 years. During this time, the medical center earned gold recognition twice from the Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence Program. In 2019, the medical center earned Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. Only 12 hospitals in the country have achieved both Baldrige and Magnet® recognition.

-end-